The National Council on Teacher Quality reviewed 2,420 traditional teacher preparation programs in the country, including SMU Simmons’ undergraduate programs.
We believe NCTQ’s mission to examine and review teacher preparation in education schools is one important step in understanding teacher quality across the nation.
SMU Simmons collaborated with NCTQ early in 2010 when it assessed teacher training programs in Texas. SMU was cited as being one of four Texas schools with a strong overall design. In this year’s national report, we also were highly rated for strong design in early reading–only one of three in the country to receive the designation.
Getting good students to enter our programs is a strong component of our school and university. Simmons received a perfect score in selection criteria. We also received a perfect score in outcomes because of our efforts to survey and track students, and to secure growth data.
We believe this year’s report gives us some good information for improvement, and we plan on taking action to enhance areas where NCTQ noted we fell short.
There are significant discrepancies in the report about what we do to prepare our students, but we will be making updates to NCTQ’s portal to correct the record. To read the report click here.